Apparatus for annealing glassware



Nov. 19,- 1929. v. MULHO LLAND 1,736,322 APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original Filed June 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY 96 21 1a 22 6' ya 20 Q7 7/ 2 Z zmvtu'ron Nov. 19, 1929. v. MULHOLLAND APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original Filed June '1, 1925' 8 Sheets- Sheet 2 Nov. 1-9; 1929. v

' v. MULHOLLAND APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original Filed June 1, 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNE Now-19, 1921. 'v. M'ULHOLLAND 1,736,322

APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original Filed June l. 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ATTORN EY APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original Filed June 1, 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 19, 1929. v. MULHOLLAND APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original Filed June 1, 1925 7: v I 21 Q ZO v 8 Sheds-Sheet 6 ltu 1 a @135 3t 0 B 6 33 INVENTOR 3 W 97 v G H mns ATTORNEY Nov. 19, 1929. v. MULHOLLAND 1,736,322

APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original Filed June 1, 1925 8 SheetsSheet '7 ATTOR N EY Nov. 19, 1929, -v. MULHOLLAND APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING. GLASSWARE Original Filed Jul 1e 1, 1925 s Sheets-Shee t 8 INVENTOR ATTORNEY r if Patented Nov. l9,

UNITED STATES FPATENT mm;

VEBGIL IULHOLLAND, 0] WEST HARTIOBD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HARTFORD-'- I mm (DIP-ANY, OI HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE 1 AIPABATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Original application fled June 1, 1925, Serial No. 33,977. Divided" and this application filed October 18, at

- 025. Ser1a11To.62,287./

This invention relates to lehrs for annealing glassware, and it has particular relation to ehrs of the t pe embodying'a tunnel which has heating and with and through which the ware is transported, the ware being subjected therein to varying temperature environments. Such a lehr is disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,571,- 137 issued Jan. 26, 1926, and reissued April 9,

1929, Reissue No. 17,263.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a lehr, of the character described, which shall be of relatively light and inexpensive structure, which may be quickly and easily assembled from a plurality of similar metallic sections, and in which the temperature in the tunnel may be easily and accurately controlled and maintained substantially uniform, so far as the environ ment of the ware is concerned, throughout any transverse section or zone of the tunnel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lehr in which the heating and coolin media, flowing in their respective fiues, shal 2 be drawn through the fiues by suction and shall thus be prevented from obtaining access to the tunnel through leaks or crevices that may exist ordevelop between the fiues and the tunnel, which may not only disturb 80 the temperature therein b establishing hot or cold spots or zones, the ocations ofwhich are diflicult to determine and which interfere materially with the proper annealing of the ware, but which have a tendency to cause a combustion deposit on the ware.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide-a lehr embodying a substantially unitary tunnel mounted on rollers or other equivalent anti-friction devices in order to permit the tunnel to expand and contract as an entirety in a longitudinal direction with changes in temperature.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic vertical longitudinal sectional view of a lehr constructed according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlar ed view of the forward or receiving end of t e lehr, partly 'in vertical longitudinal section and partly in side elevation. 1

cooling fiues associated there- Fig. 3 is a similar view of an intermediate portion of the lehr, illustrating the damperals the anti-friction support for the tunnel.

Fig. 4 is ,a vertical longitudinal sectional View of another intermediate portion of the lehr, illustrating more in detail the sectional construction of the tunnel.

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the rear or exit end of the tunnel, illustrating the draft-producing device and the damper mechanism for controlling the drafts produced thereby.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of the ware-sorting table and the conveyor-driving mechanism. f

Fig. 7 ma horizontal sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 2, and'illustrating the internal construction of the fire box.

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse sectional View taken on line 88 of Fig. 2,. and illustrating the cross-sectional arrangement of the tunnel and fire box.

Fig. 9 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on line 99 of Fig. 4, andillustrating the cross-sectional construction of the damper-controlled openings in the heating and cooling flues. v

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 taken on the line 10.10 of Fig. 5, and illustrating the fiues which establish communication between the heating fiues and the draft-producing device. v

Fig. 11 is a vertical transverse sectional View taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 6, and illustrating the construction of the mechanism for taking up slack in the endless conveyor belt.

Fi 12 is a fragmentary horizontal sectiona view through one of the expansion joints in the outer casing of the tunnel, and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through one of the joints between the side walls of the tunnel.

The present invention is an im rovement upon the lehr disclosed in my a ove ment-ioned prior Patent 1,571,137, reissued as I Be. 17 63, April 9, 1929, and, as diagram matica ly illustrated in Fig. 1, briefly comprises a sectional tunnel A; a fire box B 10- cated beneath the forward or ware-receiving end of the tunnel; a plurality of heating fiues C, communicatin with the fire box and extendin longitudinally beneath the tunnel; a plura ity of cooling flues D, extending longitudinally above the tunnel; a draft-producing device E, specifically a suction fan, communicating with both the heating fines and the cooling fines; a ware-sorting table F, lo-

cated at the exit end of the tunnel; an endless conveyor G, the ware-bearing strand of which traverses the tunnel and the sorting table F,

and the idle strand of which returns to the entrance end of the tunnel beneath the lehr; and a conveyor-driving mechanism H.

The several sections of the tunnel are rigidlg secured together in end-to-end relation an are supported by suitable framework which includes a pair of longitudinally extending channel members 1 and transversely extending channel members 2 which are, in turn, supported by vertically adj ustable" pedestals v3. The tunnel is slightly inclined downward from the hot or receiving end to the cool or delivery end to cause a tendency for air to flow through the tunnel, in a direction opposite to that of the movement of the were. This flow of air through the tunnel is preferably barely sufiicient to prevent an inflow of cold air at the hot end of the tunnel without necessarily exerting a material coolin influence upon the ware.

Fach of the sections of the tunnel is Preferably constructed of cast iron and comprises a bottom 4:, side walls 5, and a top .6. The

rigidly bolted, as indicated at 8, Fig. 2, to the rear end of a box 9 which, in turn, is rigidly bolted, as indicated at 10, to the channels 1- of the supportin frame of the lehr and which constitutes the orward end of the heating lines. The forward end of the bottom 4901. each of the succeeding sections of the tunnel 'is bolted to the rear end of the bottom-of the preceding section, as indicated at 11, Fig. 2. The rear end. of each of the bottoms 4 is supported by rollers 12 which ride on rails 13 carried by the channels 1. The rear end of the box 9 and the rear ends of each of the bottoms 4 are'provid'ed with seats 14 for telescopic engagement with reducedfianges 15"p'rovidedonthe forward ends of each 10f the bottom members 4:. The joints thus formed between the several bottom members are sealed with a suitable refractory came 1:

as indicated at 16, and their forward edges are formed with offset flanges17 (Fig. 13) for overlapping engagement with the rear edges'of the corresponding walls of the preceding section.

The top members 6 of all of the sections of the tunnel are supported by the side walls 5 and are provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending corrugations 18 which provide a roof for the tunnel having'a rela-- tively large heat radiating surface in comparison with the width of the tunnel. It will be noted, from an inspection of the drawings,

that these tops are of two types. For approximately one-third of the length of the tunnel, commencing at its entrance end, the tops 6 are of open construction as illustrated in Fig. 8, but for the remainder of the distance along the tunnel, the tops 6 are also of the shell-like structure best shown in Fig. 9,being'formed with, aplurality of parallel longitudinally extending ports 19, which, when the tops are arrari ed in end-to-end relation, constitute the cd olilig flues D.

vThe lehr is heated by a burner 20 which projects a flame through an openin 21 into a combustion chamber 22 provided 1n the fire box B (Fig 7). The flame from the burner, upon entering the chamber 22, first impinges upon an angularly disposed baflle 23 which-deflects it in the directions indicated by the arrows in Fig. 7. Fromthe chamber 22, the products of combustion pass forwardly through an opening24, provided in a wall 25, and into a inixing'chamber 26, where they first encounter a baffle 27 which deflects them rearwardly and distributes them in a lateral direction throughout the chamber. A port 28 (Figs. 7 andS) establishes communication between the outer atmosphere and the chamber 26 directly to the rear of the baflie 27 ,and supplies diluting air to the lproducts of combastion as they enter the c amber 26. The

. amountof air passing through the port 28 may be controlled by adamper 29 provided on the side of the fire box.

The combustion chamber 22 and the mixing chamber 26 areboth provided with inner linings 30 ofrefra'ctory material and with outer linings 31 ofheat-insulating brick, which is surrounded by a powdered-insulating material 32, such as kieselfuhr, or the like. This within-a metallic casstructure is contains ing 33, which is mounted upon adjustable legs openings to admit varying quantities'of air into the box 36 in order to distribute the draft equally transversely of the tunnel. The openings in these caps may also be employed to observe the character of the combustion in the fire box. A damper 40 is provided in the box 37 in order to regulate the amount of the draft in the fire box-B and in the heating flues C.

Both the heated gases and the cooling air are drawn through their respective flues G and D at sub-atmospheric pressure by a common draft-producing device E comprising a motor driven suction fan 41 which is mounted on the top of the tunnel adjacent to the exit end tnereof. This fan communicates with a drum 42 which in turn communicates with apair of'vertical flues 43 disposed one on'each side of the lehr. These flues communicate at their lower ends with a transverse flue 44 located beneath the lehr and which in turn communicates with all of the heating flues C through a longitudinally extending upwardly inclined flue 45(Fig. 5) The flue 45 is provided with a damper 46 which may be operated to control the draft in the heating flues by means of a rod 47 which is threaded into the hand wheel 48.

The drum 42 of the draft-producing device also communicates with the cooling flues D in the top of the tunnelthrough the medium of a longitudinally extending conduit 49 disposed above the lehr, and which communicates at intervals with all of the cooling flues D through stacks 50 (Figs. 3 and 4). These stacks are provided with dampers 51 which may be selectively operated 'to regulate the amount and location that the cooling air is drawn out of the cooling flues. It will be noticed from an inspection of Fig. 1 that the cooling air'is drawn through the flues D in a direction opposite to that of the flow of the heating gases in the flues C.

A damper 52 is also provided in the conduit 49, as shown in Fig. 5, and may be operated tocontrol the draft in all of the cooling flues by means of a rod 53 which is thread'edinto a hand wheel 54:.

The temperatures in the flues C may be regulated by admitting diluting air from the outer atmosphere into these flues through a pluralitv of stacks 55 which are arranged at intervals lengthwise of these flues. Dampers 56 are provided in the stacks 55 to enable the operator to regulate the amount and the location where such diluting air is admitted into the heating flues, whereb .the desired temperaturedrop or curve in tiiese fiues'and in the tunnel may be obtained. The dampers 51 and 56 are provided with operating handles 5'? and 58 respectively, having calibrated segments 59 and 60 formed integrally therewith by means of which the distances that these dampers are opened may be ac-' curately determined. v

The rear ends of-the heating flues C are closed to the outer atmosphere, as indicated at 60 in Fig. 5, and inasmuch as the flues 43 communicate with the flues C forward of the laststack 55 in these flues, cooling air will flow in the flues C in a forward direction for 'a short distance adjacent to the exit end of the tunnel where it is desired to hasten the cooling of the ware.

By properly, adjusting both the dampers 51 and 56 in the stacks 50 and55 respectively, the desired temperature radients may be obtained in the flues C and D, and in the portions of the tunnel adjacent thereto. That is to say, the character of the temperature curves obtained by plotting temperatures as ordinates against distances along the lehr as abscissae, in both the heating flues-and in the cooling flues is determined by the number and location of the dampers that are opened to the outside atmosphere, and the degree to which such dampers are opened. For example, the less the amount of cooling air from theouter atmosphere that is permitted to enter the forward or hotter ortions of the heat ing flues C, the greater distance will the heat in these flues influence the temperatures therein; and the less the amount of cooling air that'is allowed to escape from the rear or cooler ends of the cooling flues D, the greater distance will the cooling air traverse these flues. It, therefore, follows that by regulating the amount that the gases in the heating flues are diluted and cooled by outside air,. and by re ulating the amount of cooling air escaping t rough the stacks 50 from the cooling flues D and by also determining the location of the dampers that are adjusted, the

resultant temperature radients of the top and bottom portions of the tunnel may not only be controlled at will, but the point or zone of maximum drop inthe temperature curves'may be shifted longitudinally of the tunnel. v

By. thus heating the floor of the tunnel to cause upwardly moving convection currents and by cooling the top of the tunnel to cause downwardly moving convection currents and by. independently regulating the degree of heating and cooling, the rate of movement of the convection currents in the tunn'elmay be verse section or zone in the tunnel.

Dissipation of heat from the tunnel and the heating fines is minimized by surrounding the tunnel with heat-insulating material 61 in the form of powdered kieselguhr or the like. This material is contained within an outer casing comprising the following parts horizontally extending plates 62, which are supported beneath the tunnel by the channels 1 and 2; angle plates 68, which are secured to the sides of the bottoms 4 and which overhang the rollers 12 (Fig. 9) side plates 64: which are secured at their lower edges to the angle plates 63 and which are maintained in spaced relation with the sides of the tunnel by spacer bolts 65; and topl plates 66, which extend horizontally above t e tunnel in spaced relation thereto and which are secured at their outer edges to the side plates 64. Expansion joints are provided between the vertical edges of the side plates 64 and each comprises a channel 67 and a spacer 68 which are secured to one ofthe plates 64 and which slidably retain the over apping edge of the adjacent side plate (Fig. 12).

The thickness of the insulation 61 may be reduced toward the rear end of the lehr, as shown in Fig. 4, and may be entirely dispensed with adjacent to the exit end of the tunnel, as shown in Fig. 5.

The sorting table F consists of a plurality of spaced parallel longitudinal bars 69 (Figs. 6 and 11) which are supported at their forward ends by the frame of the lehr, and at their rear ends by a frame 70 of the belt driving mechanism H. Rollers 71 are carried at spaced intervals by the bars 69, and provide a support for the conveyor as it emerges from the tunnel bearing the annealed ware. The table F is of sufficient length to permit'several persons to stand side b side on each side of the table to inspect an remove the ware from the conveyor G for packin The conveyor G and the table F are su ciently narrow to permit easy access, from either side of the table, to Ware located in the central portion of the conveyor.

The conveyor G comprises an endless belt of flexible open structure, the ware-bearing strand of which lies flat upon the cast iron bottom members 4, which-constitute the bottom of the lehr tunnel, and upon the rollers .71 of the receiving table F.

As best sho n in Fig. 6, theconveyor, as it advances over the end of the receiving table passes over a roller 72 j'ournaled in the frame 70 and thence forwardly and around a driving drum 73 which is mounted on a shaft 74 journaled in theframe 70. At the point where the belt leaves the drum 7 3, it passes over and rearwardly around a roller 75 which is .journaled atits ends in side blocks 76,

mounted in ways 77. The drum and-the roller 75 are provided with resilient antislipping coverings 78 and 79 respectively, composed of rubber or the like, so as to present a tractive surface to the belt and insure a positive driving contact therewith. The roller 75 is maintained in gripping con tact with the belt G by jack screws 80 which are threaded in the Ways 77 and which bear against the side blocks 76.

The drum 7 3 and the roller 75 are rotated by a sprocket wheel 81 which is driven in any preferred manner. The sprocket .wheel 81 is mounted on a shaft 82 which carries a worm 83 meshing with a Worm wheel 83 carriedby a shaft 84. A pinion 85 is also keyed to the shaft 84, and meshes with a gear wheel 86 mounted on a shaft 87. A pinion 88 is also keyed to the shaft 87 and meshes with a gear wheel 89 carried bythe drum 7 3. The gear wheel 89meshes with a gear wheel 90 on the roller 75, whereby both the drum and roller are driven at the same peripheral speed.

The conveyor belt G, after passing around the roller 75, passes forwardly and beneath a roller 91 and thence upwardly-and rear- Wardly over an idler roller 92. The idler roller 92 is mounted on a shaft '93, provided with gear wheels 94 at each end which are mounted on rack bars 94* carried by the bars 69. By rotating the shaft 9 3'by means of a handle 95, the roller 92 may be shifted longitudinally of the table F to take up any slack in the conveyor. I After leaving the roller 92, the belt G passes upwardly and forwardly over a roller 96 carried by the bars 69, and thenceforwardly beneath the lehr where it is supported at intervals by rollers 97 which are mounted on the pedestal 3.. At the forward or receiving end of the lehr, the lower strand of-the conveyor G is supported between rollers 98 mounted beneath the fire box B (Fig. 2). As the belt leaves these'rollers, it passes upwardly and parallel to the front end of the fire box and thence over a roller 99 disposed adjacent to the entrance of the tunnel. From the roller 99 the belt passes over the box 9 and beneath a guard plate 100 and into the front end of the lehr tunnel.

The entrance end of the tunnel is provided with a door 101 which is mounted in ways 102 for vertical sliding movement. This door may be raised or lowered, to close the upper portion of the tunnel but permitting suificient clearance for ware to pass therebeneath by means of rods 103 which are threaded into hand wheels 104 mounted on a, frame 105. When the door has been ad justed to the desired height, it may be clamped in position by screws 106 provided in the ways 102.

The. exit end of the tunnel is provided with a-door 107 Which'is hinged at its u per edge to the top 6 of the last section 0 the tunnel and which is provided with arcuate The door may be opened sufficiently to permit ware to pass therebeneath and maintained at such height by a bar 109 which is adapted .to be adjustablysecured to a bracket 110 carried by the base of the draft-producmg device E .From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided a lehr of very rugged and durable structure and one that may be. assembled very quickly and easily from a plurality of similar and interchangeable sections. Also, it will be apparent that by my construction and method of drawing the heating gases and the cooling air through the several flues at sub-atmospheric pressure, the in'unious effects of leakage of these media into t e tunnel is reduced to a minimum. Furthermore, supporting the tunnel throughout its entire length by anti-friction devices renders it POS', sible to eliminate expansion joints or other joints between the sections of the tunnel through which leaks may exist or 'may develop, and permits the tunnel to expand lengthwise as a unit on its support.

Certain structural features herein shown and described are not claimed herein, but are specifically claimed in certain of my copending applications. For .example, no claim is made herein to the feature of drawing heated gases through a portion of the flues beneath the tunnel to heat a ortion of the tunnel and causing cold air to ow in the opposite direction through another portion of the same flues to cool the exit end of the tunnel, inasmuch as this matter 7 is claimed in my coending application filed Au net 27, 1925,

1'. No. 52,751, now Patent 0. 1,588,603, dated June 15, 1926;

It is obvious that the lehr herein disclosed provides flues for the heated gases which are separated from the tunnel by relatively thin cast iron walls which make for rapid heat exchange between the gases and the glassware in the tunnel, and provides a fire box specifically provided with means to regulate the admission of air to dilute the products of combustion passing therefrom into the flues. As the glassware is to be passed through the tunnel, preferably in close proximity to the walls of the flue and separated therefrom by aconveyor of flexible open-work structure,

-which does not hinder materially the-rapid transference of heat from the ware to and through the flue wall, it is obvious that this -lehr should be operated and the controls so used that the products of combustion from the fire b x be sufficiently diluted with air prior 1 to their admission into the flues that their temperature closely approximates that of the glassware at the soaking period, that is,

- during the time that permanent strains are being released therefrom. When extremely light weight ware is being annealed, the gases are usually supplied to the flue at a temperature slightly higher than this desired soaking temperature to compensate for the greater cooling during the shaping and transferring operations while with very heavy ware the flue gases may be at a slightly lower temperature than the aforesaid soaking temperature. Such a control of the condition of for t 1e greatly increased totalvolume of gases such as would be required were it not per unit of time due to the initial dilution of those gases to bring them down to the an-' nealing temperature, as above described.

The rovision of the above-recitedelements in-myehr, in lieu of the relatively oor heat conducting flues and conveyors of igh heat mass of the prior art, permits the use of larger volumes of gases at lower temperatures to ob.- tainthe same temperature inthe tunnel; and the provisions made by me for 'the rapid transference of heat from the tunnel to the flue and vice versa permit accurate and flexiblecontrol of the temperature gradients in the flue and hence in the "warein the tunnel. The use of relatively large volumes of gas at low temperatures is also a material factor in the economical useof the lehr, inasmuch as it of fuel to produce an 'nitiall smallamount of hot gases which are ater di uted.

The various features of the invention herein described as incorporated in a single organized apparatus may be used separately or in other combinations, and various modifications may be made in the arrangement and construction of the parts, and in the method of cooling the article to be annealed. For some uses, as for example, for the handling of only one kind of ware, some of the adjustments and other provisions for handling varied kinds of ware may be dispensed with. Again, by mounting the tunnel on anti-friction devices, the tunnel may be made integral throughout its length. In this and in other ways the method and apparatus herein described and shown may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

This application is a division of my copending application for Letters Patent filed J line 1, 1925, Serial No. 33,97 7 and is directed to various structural features which are shown and described in the said copending application but are not claimed therein.

What I claim is:

1. A lehr for annealing glassware comprising a tunnel, a fire box arranged adjacent to the entrance end of said tunnel, a plurality of having openings for establishing communication therebetween at intervals longitudinal- 1y thereof to equalize the draft therein.

g 2. A lehr for annealinglglassware comprising a tunnel, a fire box 'sposed beneath the entrance end of said tunnel, a plurah' of I flues communicating with said fire box an extending longitudinally beneath said tunnel, means or causing the flow of heated gases in said fiues, said flues having 0 nings arran ed at aced intervals longitu inally thereo to esta lish communication therebetween.

Signed at Hartford, Connecticut, this 9th day of October, 1925.

15 VERGIL MULHOLLAND. 

